NBA Finals: Andrew Wiggins steps up in pivotal Game 5 win as Warriors take 3-2 series lead over Celtics
SAN FRANCISCO — Finally, someone other than Stephen Curry stepped up for the Warriors.
Andrew Wiggins caught fire for Golden State in a 104-94 Warriors win over the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday at Chase Center.
The Warriors are one game away from their fourth title in eight years. It would also be their seventh championship all time, which would put the Warriors alone in third all time and break a tie with Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. Game 6 is at 9 p.m. ET Thursday in Boston.
The back-and-forth game saw runs of no 3-pointers, then stretches of nearly impossible consecutive makes and all that still amounted to abysmal shooting from distance. It didn’t matter for the Warriors, though.
Wiggins finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Wiggins missed all six of his 3-point attempts, though. Klay Thompson had 21 points, including five triples.
Curry was 0-for-9 from 3-point range, his first game since November 2018 without a triple. It was the first postseason game of his career without a 3-pointer.
Draymond Green fouled out for the third time this series after a slightly better offensive night. Green had eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Jordan Poole hit another buzzer-beating triple from a few steps inside midcourt to end the third quarter. Poole had 14 points off the bench.
The Celtics missed their first 12 3-pointers of the game, then hit eight in a row — an NBA Finals record — which coincided with their first lead of the game at 58-55 with 6:27 remaining in the third period. The Warriors held a 51-39 lead at halftime.
Boston struggled with turnovers and had 18 for the game.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who has struggled throughout the series, looked like he was about to have a breakout game, but floundered in the fourth quarter. Tatum finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He was 2-of-6 from the free-throw line.
The Celtics melted down midway through the fourth quarter as Marcus Smart argued a non-call and then drew a foul against him, which he also argued.